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by Harry McCracken
PC World produces a far-ranging report on ways to get video from the Internet to your TV. Though a bevy of hardware options are examined, three stand out -- Apple TV, Roku Digital Video Player and Vudu.… Links lead to longer reviews of all three boxes. While only the report on the Roku player is up-to-date, that review is very well done and one of the few we've seen that covers that player since Amazon's on-demand capabilities were added. Capsule reviews of Netflix Watch Instantly and Amazon Video on Demand are only minimally helpful, however.
by Editors of PCMag.com
PCMag covers set-top video download boxes and solutions in single product reports and multi-product roundups. Reviewer Tim Gideon rates the Roku Netflix player significantly higher than the 2Wire MediaPoint… player for Blockbuster, and adds that the latter is more similar to Apple TV, but minus some significant advantages. In an older multi-device round up, Brian K. Neal gives the Microsoft Xbox 360 an edge over Apple TV as "the best gaming/media entertainment device available."
by Editors of CNET
Reviews of set-top boxes for use with Netflix, Blockbuster, Vudu and more can be found here. The review of Vudu has been updated to take the latest improvements into account and is said to now offer movies… in better quality than set top boxes supporting Netflix or Blockbuster. The Roku box for Netflix is called "the cheapest and easiest way to add an impressive number of on-demand video options to any TV." The 2Wire Blockbuster OnDemand box falls short, but is attractively priced. Apple TV gets the highest rating of all, and is called "a compelling Internet-enabled entertainment device for the living room."
by Sean Captain
Popular Science examines three movie download services and the hardware they use to deliver content to a TV. Value, watch-ability, the availability of HD material and ease of use are compared. All have… advantages and disadvantages, and reviewer Sean Captain says that he would like to have all three in his living room. In the end, the Netflix Roku Player prevails. "It offers fine quality and great convenience at a price I can afford," Captain writes.
by Editors of ConsumerReports.org
Consumer Reports ranks different ways to get movies to view at home without a trip to the rental store. These include DVD-by-mail services, DVD kiosks and cable/satellite delivered video on demand. Rankings… are based on feedback from a user survey. Discussion is brief. A report on video download boxes is too thin and dated to be useful. However, a blog entry on HD video streaming includes some interesting insights, plus a promise of a more complete report in the future
by Editors of TopTenReviews.com
TopTenReviews.com reports often are downgraded because of its grade inflation (giving most products the same rating) and generally skimpy reviews. While the reviews in this report are still thin, the… comparison chart is excellent and the ratings are uncharacteristically tough - not even winner Netflix gets a perfect score. Despite the 2009 date on the report, some information is clearly older and the listings include one service that closed its doors in early 2008.
by Darren Murph
by David Pogue
by Prince McLean
This article pits Netflix streaming video and the Roku Netflix player against Apple TV and content from iTunes. The author says that standard definition video is on a par. Netflix is criticized for its… limited selection and lack of poplar titles and HD content (the latter since rectified), but Apple TV lacks some offbeat content offered by Netflix. Reviewer Prince McLean also does not like that each title on Apple TV must be purchased separately. In the end, he says that the best service/box is the one that best meets a viewer's specific needs and tastes.
by Nilay Patel
This article looks at various ways to stream HD content from Netflix to a TV. Nilay Patel says that regardless of the hardware used, the lack of surround sound hurts the experience. At its best, HD video… rivals that of broadcast TV HD, but falls short of Blu-ray. Standard-definition video is, at best, DVD quality, but "still watchable" at worst. The Samsung BD-P2500 offers the best picture quality, but the Roku video player is the best value.
by Rob Pegoraro
Rob Pegoraro, personal technology columnist for The Washington Post, examines the movie download services available through Apple TV and Microsoft's Xbox 360. He discusses key considerations, such as… pricing, viewing windows download times and more. He says the standard definition downloads look "blurrier and fuzzier than DVDs," but that high definition downloads look "magnificent, with far less evidence of the compression used to squish a movie into a downloadable file." In the end, the biggest criticism of both services is that neither stocks enough movies.
by Nick Wingfield
by Editors of TopTenReviews.com
Similar in tone and content to its report on online DVD rental services, TopTenReviews.com rates download services. Despite the claim of this being a 2009 report, lots of information is clearly outdated.… CinemaNow (which partnered with Blockbuster in January) is awarded a gold medal over Movielink (which was absorbed by Blockbuster in 2007) because it offers more titles along with the ability to burn downloaded movies onto DVDs. Vongo, which closed shop in August 2008, is listed in fourth place.
by Wilson Rothman
This brief faceoff of three video download services does a good job comparing key differences, but ultimately does little to answer the question of which is best. Still, having a side-by-side comparison of… costs and content, along with screenshots, can be helpful. Advantages are found with each. Vudu is the overall content champ, but Apple TV delivers more TV programming -- minus NBC. Xbox 360 gets the nod for image quality. Author Wilson Rothman also asks readers to vote (the Xbox 360 was winning by a healthy margin when we visited) and there are many reader comments that add fire but only a little light to the debate.
by John P. Falcone
CNET is often the top go-to site for reviews of anything digital, but editors never make a determination of which rental service is superior in this review, which has become quite old. Reviewer John P.… Falcone appears to like Netflix best, but never actually says so directly. There is a decent side-by-side comparison of features, although information about pricing and the number of titles and distribution sites is clearly outdated.
by Editors of SixStarReviews.com
While the recommendations at this site follow what we've seen elsewhere, we'd be a little more comfortable if the reports for Netflix and Blockbuster -- the two top choices -- were better balanced and had… less of a cheerleaderish tone. Reviews of the other sites covered here are more critical. Some information is out of date. One site listed ceased operations in November 2008. User reviews add additional information, but would be more helpful if they were dated.
by Christopher Breen
Macworld reviewer Christopher Breen looks at the Apple TV "Take Two" update in this article, which also appears on the website of sister magazine PC World. Breen details the changes in this latest update --… which includes a simpler interface and the ability to rent movies directly from Apple's iTunes store -- and discusses some nuts-and-bolts topics, such as updating older Apple TVs and new settings options. Unfortunately, this all-too-cheery report fails to find any negatives at all, and his viewing test consists solely of the first 15 minutes of the HD version of "Live Free or Die Hard" -- hardly a comprehensive sample.
by Walter S. Mossberg
by David Chartier
by Katherine Boehret
Technology columnist Katherine Boehret reports on Jaman, a service that specializes in foreign and independent films that can be rented or purchased via download. However, the site itself is described as… "overwhelming" because of organizational problems. Boehret also doesn't like that Jaman uses a peer-to-peer distribution method that borrows bandwidth from users to prevent overloading its own servers. Downloads are very slow. The site includes a community section designed to encourage film reviews and discussions, but that's described as "a little weak."
by Editors of HackingNetflix.com
This blog is one of the better sites on the Internet to stay abreast of the latest developments in the world of online DVD rentals and the DVD industry in general. Reviews are rare -- though you will find a… comparison between the Blockbuster and Netflix set-top player -- but there's lots of information about services, new or discontinued features or policies, problems and solutions and just about anything else you can think of. Posts are lighthearted, but informative, and readers have plenty of opportunity to add opinions of their own.
by Editors of HackingBlockbuster.com
by Dave Zatz
by Contributors to Epinions.com
by Editors of TopChoiceReviews.com
by Editors of GoRunGoReviews.com
GoRunGoReviews.com makes an effort at transparency, acknowledging that it gets a commission if some of the products are purchased after clicking through this site. However, this site has not been updated in… quite some time. For example, long-defunct QuikFliks holds down the No. 3 spot. Intelliflix, which clocks in at No. 4, closed in late 2007 after it was sued by the Florida attorney general for deceptive advertising and operating without a license.
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